The Treasury Vodka Bar & Eatery at 10004 Jasper Avenue in Edmonton is having a “soft opening” which means a limited menu with starters, mains and a couple of desserts to choose from. The lounge/club/restaurant allows minors until about 9 pm so we took our three young teenagers. They’re adventurous eaters and that meant there would be lots of dishes to try.

The space is more lounge/nightclub than restaurant with a gigantic “vodka tower” in the middle, long, low couches, and high chairs at tables beside beautiful big windows. We sat at a curved banquette with a round table in the center. These tables are better suited for kicking back with a cocktail than they are for eating.

The menu looked interesting enough—creative but not overly so. For starters we went with the Prawns Creta despite our server not knowing what the “Creta” in Prawns Creta meant. Didn’t matter, they were sautéed in sambuca and that’s all I cared about. The prawns were then mixed with feta, basil and tomatoes and served on chewy crostinis. Very tasty, nice and creamy, and the feta worked well with the sambuca. Good flavours all the way around. $13.

No one could tell us what the “Tesoreia” in the Tesoreia Carpaccio meant, either…was it someone’s name? A place in Italy? A type of Italian beef? Oh well, the dish sounded appealing: beef, white truffle oil, Dijon and capers. The name ended up not mattering in the end because the server forgot to input it on the ticket and it wasn’t until we were well into our mains that we forgot we had even ordered it. But I was curious about that name, Tesoreia.

Back to the food: The crepe roll, similar to a spring roll, was a generous and satisfying portion filled with duck and prawn and served with a sweet wasabi sauce. $12, tasty and suitable to share.

The mains: first up, Lavender-Honey Green Apple Spring Salad – a mix of greens, figs, goat cheese, candied walnuts and an add-on of blackened chicken (you can choose from chicken, prawns or salmon). Good potential, but a lack of dressing didn’t win any favours (we needed to ask for more on the side). Also a lack of figs – apparently they were out, something only told to us after we pointed out to our server that we had salads sans figs. This dish was served with a blueberry scone just to make things even more interesting. Have to say the lavender-honey dressing wasn’t jiving either and I expected more than one see-through thin slice of green apple. $12 + $6 for the chicken = an $18 salad.

I zoned in on the Black Garlic Scented Chicken. Black garlic is a fairly new find on the culinary scene and something you don’t see much of in restaurants. The garlic is fermented until the cloves become black and soft like taffy in texture, sweet and savoury in flavour. Unfortunately, I didn’t detect any of those characteristics in the dish which included a very small, dry portion of chicken on a bed of brown rice, reedy yellow beans and white asparagus. $28.

We were counting on the two other mains to save the night: the beef tenderloin and the Ahi Tuna. The beef was served with a beautiful port/balsamic reduction and a potato and cloud mushroom parcel. The potato side was great but the medallions were cooked well past medium rare. $28.

Finally, the Ahi Tuna: described as “seared rare” on the menu, as it should be. But one look at the four small slices and we knew that it, like the beef, was overdone; the white colour gave it away. Overcooking Ahi Tuna makes it too solid, too dry. But, the kaffir lime coconut sauce that accompanied it helped make things go down a little easier. $27.

I am optimistic that the Treasury kitchen staff and Chef Paul Greene can tweak a few of the dishes to “provide a dining experience like no other” as they claim on their website. Adjusting the prices needs to be addressed if the portions remain as small as the ones served to us. Once my wallet recovers, I’d be willing to give them another chance.

Oh, and about that word, Tesoreia: a Google search revealed that the word should be spelled Tesoreria which, as it turns out, means….Treasury. The staff might need to know that. 

My CBC Edmonton AM radio review with host Ron Wilson can be heard here.